Peach Cobbler

Peach Cobbler

When making peach cobbler, be sure to taste the peaches. If they are ripe, use less sugar. If they are tangy, add a pinch of salt.

• 2 tablespoons self-rising flour
• 6 cups sliced fresh ripe peaches
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 stick butter or margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• Cobbler crust (below)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the flour, ginger, and sugar together; pour over the peaches in a bowl, and mix well. Put the peach mixture in a 9 x 12-inch baking dish, over a bottom crust. Dot the peaches with the butter. Place a top crust over the peaches and bake on the lower rack of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. 

Serves 8.

Coconut Custard Pie

Coconut Custard Pie

• 3/4 cup sugar or Splenda
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• Dash salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup coconut
• vanilla wafers
• 1 cooked pie shell

Combine ½ cup sugar (or Splenda), flour and salt in top of double boiler. Mix in 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks. Stir in milk and coconut Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into pie shell and top with meringue.


Meringue
Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed; slowly add the sugar (Splenda) beating until the whites are stiff. Spread over the top of the custard. Brown in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Cherries In The Snow

Cherries In The Snow

This one of my favorite recipes that Lib Gurkin likes to make - it is delicious. Its wonderful served cold on a hot Summer day - and its really quick and easy to make. You can substitute the cherry pie filling for other toppings if you like - for example, blueberries.

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 medium angel food cake, torn into pieces
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling
  1 cup milk
• 1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Combine cream cheese with sugar and gradually add milk. Fold in whipped topping and mix into broken cake pieces. Put the mixture into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and smooth cherry pie filling on top. Refrigerate. 

Serves 12.

The Land of the Quaking Earth

The Land of the Quaking Earth

The Dismal swamps stretch from the tidewaters of Virginia down through eastern North Carolina and on into South Carolina. Four hundred years of dredging canals and damming rivers have made it a shadow of its former glory. There are still areas that are very close to what it once was, but the hand of man has touched nearly all. Endless miles of huge trees have been hacked and hauled from the swamps. In their place are millions of pine pulp wood trees to make newspapers and cardboard boxes. I admit that my kin helped do that cutting. Where the lumber train used to run to haul out the huge logs is now a dirt road and is called "Gurkin's Switch". That's my name also - Bob Gurkin. Carrier pigeons have been commercially hunted to extinction. Deer were slaughtered to the point that they had to be imported from other states to help start the herds here again. The red wolf was hunted to extinction. There are exactly 6 red wolves in the state at this time. A man who said he thought the wolf ‘might harm one of his children’ killed the 7th. Here we call a panther a 'painter'. One person claimed to have seen a painter 4 or 5 years ago, but everyone thinks he was either drunk or lying. I don't think any of those are left.

There are a very few Cherokee left in the east and a some of the Lumbee Indians are around. My great, great grandma was a Lumbee. Her name was Hattie Mae. I can still remember some of her kin coming up to the back door of our cabin, begging for some food. The members of the Lumbee Indians claim that the people who made up the "Lost Colony" of North Carolina came to live with them, and quite a few surnames from the "Lost Colony" are used by the Lumbees. My great, great grandma's last name was Waters and that was one of those names. The Indians here call this land "The Quaking Earth", and it's easy to see why. There are areas in the swamps where you can stomp on the ground and for yards around the earth will shake and quiver like a bowl of Jell-O. There are floating islands also. A tree or bush will fall into the water and start picking up debris. Soon grass and reeds will start growing from it and it will become a small floating island. Some of the islands may get up to a half-acre in size. If you jump on an island, it will rock and move like a boat. You better not walk across it though. If you fall through, you may not come back up. The water is a dark, dark brown. You can hold up a glass of it and not be able to see the other side of the glass. Water moccasins and cottonmouths make it home and yes they can bite under water. Just watch one of them coming up with a fish in its mouth sometime if you doubt that. The largest alligator I personally have seen was about 14 feet long, but I have seen a bunch of smaller ones. I have seen gators cut open and the derndest things would be in their stomachs. Turtles, bricks, shotgun shells. I haven't a clue as to why they eat that stuff. I guess I better quit right here. I could write about my beloved Dismals forever.

Banana Pudding, Southern Style

Banana Pudding, Southern Style

• 3/4 cup sugar, granulated
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• Dash of salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Vanilla wafers
• 5-6 medium fully ripe bananas

Combine ½ cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler. Mix in 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks. Stir in milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Spread small amount on bottom of 1-½ quart casserole; cover with layer of Vanilla wafers. Top with layer of sliced bananas. Pour about 1/3 of custard over bananas. Continue to layer wafers, bananas and custard to make 3 layers, ending with custard on top. Beat remaining 3 egg whites until stiff, but not dry; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until mixture forms stiff peaks. Pile on top of pudding covering entire surface. Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 5 minutes or until delicately browned. Serve warm or chilled. Serves 8.

Desserts in June

Coming up in June, we're gonna post strictly yummy Southern desserts. Oh, and of course another old tale or two. Stay tuned!

Old Fashioned Carrot Cake

Old Fashioned Carrot Cake

Here is a simple recipe for making good, old-fashioned Carrot Cake. A perfect ending to Supper - or really just good to eat any ole time.

• 2-1/4 cups self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2-½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-½ cups vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Icing:

• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 box (1 lb) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup crushed walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. Combine the oil and sugar, beating until smooth. Add the eggs and beat until well mixed. Stir in the flour mixture, add the carrots and walnuts, and mix gently just until well combined. Pour the batter into three greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake for 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the layers in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and let them cool completely on wax paper or a wire rack before icing.

To make the icing, beat the butter and cream cheese together until well combined; beat in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, and the vanilla, mixing until smooth. Spread between the layers, sprinkling nut on top of the icing as you go, and on the top of the cake, sprinkle more nuts.